Salah: The Best Shield Against Sin

... Surely the prayer prevents indecencies and evil deeds ...’
(Qur’an, 24:45)

If we worship Allah sincerely, we will arise from our prayer committed to His remembrance and obedience. Upon completing our prayers, we will want to do our best to please Him by resisting our sinful desires and rushing to perform good deeds. True worship is total submission to the Almighty and this submission should be evident in everything we say and do:

Allah Almighty has said, “I only accept the prayer of
one who has humiliated himself before My Majesty,
refrained himself from desires for My sake, passes his day in My
remembrance, does not act proud over My creation,
feeds the hungry, clothes the undressed, shows compassion
to the afflicted, and shelters the stranger.
The light of such a person will shine like the Sun and
I will grant him light in darkness and knowledge in ignorance.
I will preserve him with My honour and guard him with
My angels. When he calls me I will answer him and
when he asks Me I will grant him ...”’
(Imam al-Sadiq (A))

Salah affirms our commitment to being God’s obedient servants. Therefore, if we pray and then keep sinning, our Salah merely reflects hypocrisy. The Holy Prophet confirms:

If you were to pray so much that you became as thin as strings,
and fasted so much that you bent over as arches, Allah would not accept
any of it unless it was accompanied by piety [refraining from sins].’